November 04, 2008

How to Assimilate New People

Shirley
and I visited Porter Mountain Fellowship in Lakeside, AZ.
About 50 attended. The pastor was on his honeymoon. We were greeted at the
door. No names, just welcome! Several regulars said hello. One introduced
himself and we got into a conversation about where I was from – the Deep South,
not Southern California.

After the service no
one spoke, though my wife chatted briefly with one woman she thought she had seen in a
restaurant the night before.

This
three year old church is going to have difficulties unless it learns to greet
one-timers with the same passion as locals. Otherwise it will grow to become a
local church club – “no girls allowed.”

This
makes me want to suggest some ways we at First Southern can better relate to
our guests. Here are the steps:

·Welcome them.

·Introduce yourself.

·They will usually reciprocate.

·Ask where they are from.

·Respond if you can identify, i.e., you are from the same state or
have been there, or know someone.